


The Wake

by AnneLilian



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon Compliant, Closure, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Sad with a Happy Ending, Wakes & Funerals, more or less
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-10
Updated: 2017-06-10
Packaged: 2018-11-12 11:34:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11161035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnneLilian/pseuds/AnneLilian
Summary: It had been a week since the end of the war. We’d survived, yes, but at what cost? Tom was dead, but some of his Death Eaters still roamed the countryside, hiding. And here we sat.The survivors get some closure after the Battle of Hogwarts.





	The Wake

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for a competition for the Belgian Potterheads, but exceeded the word limit, so I'm just posting it here. Hope you enjoy!

It had been a week since the end of the war. The whole country was celebrating as we sat in the Burrow’s living room, silently grieving. The world may celebrate, but everyone gathered here was grieving.

We’d survived, yes, but at what cost? Tom was dead, but some of his Death Eaters still roamed the countryside, hiding. And here we sat.

“To Sirius,” Harry said quietly, though everyone heard. He raised his glass and looked to Ron, seated on his right. “To Remus,” the youngest Weasley boy responded, standing up.

“To Tonks,” Charlie said, ignoring how his voice cracked as she looked at Andromeda holding little Teddy. He had been in the same year as the metamorphagus in Hogwarts. “To Ted,” Andromeda said, hugging her grandson closer.

“To Colin,” Ginny managed to say, holding up her own glass, and joining her family in standing up.

“An’ little Dennis,” Hagrid muttered, though his glass was already half-empty, and there was no room for him to stand.

“To Moody,” Kingsley said.

“To Bathilda Bagshot,” Hermione said, leaning on Ron’s shoulder.

“To Dobby the free House Elf,” Luna said, with more severity in her voice than Ginny had ever heard.

“Frank and Alice Longbottom,” Neville said, his voice stronger than Ginny would have thought it would be, considering the circumstances.

And so it went on. Everyone said a name, and when they ran out of living people to name the dead, everyone named a second.

“To Severus,” Harry said. Everyone had heard the story by now. And Ginny figured everyone felt as guilty as she did that they’d believed that he’d betray Dumbledore like that.

“To Albus,” McGonagall said.

“To Fred,” George said, lastly. He’d been silent all night, and no one dared to say the name in his stead.

No one knew what to say then. Ginny privately just wished everyone would just down their drink and go home. She wanted to wallow in her misery alone. Or at least as alone as anyone could ever be in the Burrow, especially these days.

“I used to think that it was all my fault,” Harry said. It felt like a far more personal start to a conversation than the crowd warranted, but… every single person here was someone Ginny would give her life for. Everyone here knew loss and pain, and had fought tooth and nail to get our freedom back. If that didn’t earn them an intimate conversation, what would? “I used to think that everyone died because of me…” Harry trailed off. “And then I realized what a self-centered asshole I was being for thinking the world revolved around me,” he said, rubbing his neck. There was a smattering of laughter, Ginny being one of them. Who’d have thought Harry could be funny at a wake?

“Everyone we just named died because they believed in a cause, they died for a reason. Most of them were friends, some were family… But all of them died for the thing that won the war in the end. As Dumbledore so often liked to point out, love is what matters most. It’s what Voldemort couldn’t understand, and it’s what drove every single one of us.”

Ginny knew her eyes were shining, but she didn’t care. Her mother was already quietly sobbing on her dad’s shoulder in a corner, and Hagrid’s cheeks were streaked with tears as well. There wasn’t a person in this room who wouldn’t shed a tear tonight. And no one would judge her for not being strong for once.

“And that’s the spirit I want to remember them in. To family,” he said finally, and downed his drink. Everyone echoed him, and for a moment, all was silent.

Then, George started chuckling quietly. “Look at us idiots,” he said, a strained grin showing through his tears. “Fred’ kick our asses for being so down and melodramatic,” he said.

“There’s this muggle game Colin wanted to teach me,” Ginny responded. “Said he was no good at it, but that it’s easier than Quidditch.”

“There’s still light enough outside, we could try, if Hermione knows it,” Ron suggested, looking cheered for having something to do.”

“Ron, I’m hurt! It’s sports, how am I not the one you automatically turn to?” Dean said, while Seamus rolled his eyes.

“She’s his girlfriend, numpty, why do you think he turned to her?” Seamus said.

“Numpty?” Ginny asked, grinning a little.

“Oi, I’ve heard all about you Weasley women’s temperament, and me mum’s always taught me not to swear in someone else’s house!” Seamus protested.

More people laughed, and just like that, some of the tense atmosphere was gone, and little groups began to break off. A lot of the younger people made their way outside, though dad was too curious to stay with the ‘adults’ now that mum was no longer crying.

George, for all his bluster, stayed inside, though no one commented on it. Angelina stayed by his side. There were too many people at this wake, at any rate, so having some of them outside created more breathing room. Ginny stood by the door for a moment, close enough to the house to hear the buzz of conversation, but far enough to show that she was still willing to play this muggle game of ‘baseball’. Colin had said that it was an American game, but Ron’s patriotism might actually stop him from enjoying it had he known.

Ginny felt, more than saw, Harry come stand beside her.

“Would that you had been so eloquent at the public memorial,” she said, before turning to him with a wry smile. “Oh wait, you didn’t go.”

He grimaced, but kept his eyes on the people in front of them. Dean was now arguing with Hermione on some of the rules, while Seamus was attempting to conjure a bat. “There’s no one outside of this house that deserved to see my grief. And with all those reporters still wanting to know what I did this past year… I didn’t want to disrupt the ceremony.”

He still looked like he’d just come from a battle; weary and tired. But she also saw a something in him that made her think that perhaps he was on the mend. “You’re different than you were a year ago.”

Finally, he looked at her. “Aren’t we all?” he asked, and Ginny felt like he saw right through her. Like he could see the hell that had been Hogwarts this past year, and even beyond that, the hell that had been her first year.

“There’s another name I’d like to say,” she said before she could change her mind.”

Harry blinked, but didn’t comment on her change of subject. “Which one?”

“Tom Riddle. The person he could have been, the one he pretended to be in the diary,” she said. No one else would understand her need to say it out loud, no one else would look at her without judgement. But Harry _knew_ , he knew more about Voldemort’s background than anyone else, and he knew more about what it had been like for her that first year than anyone else ever could.

So he just studied his face and then nodded. “Dumbledore thought he was incapable of love or compassion because his mum used a love potion. I don’t know if that’s true, because there’s plenty of psychopaths in the muggle world, but…”

“But if it’s true and she hadn’t used it…” She didn’t need to finish her sentence. Harry understood. And that’s why after her first year, her crush on Harry had been so much more than that. Yes, he didn’t really notice her at all until fourth year when she’d been trying to move on, but… He’d always be the boy who understood. The only one who could know all of her and not judge her.

“I love you,” he whispered. And for once, he didn’t look flustered or nervous. It was just a fact.

“I love you, too,” she replied as she slid her hand in his and laced their fingers together.

They might have been broken, the both of them, but together, perhaps they could move on, and slowly mend each other again.

“Oi! Harry, Ginny! Come over here before Dean cons you into joining his losing team!” Ron shouted.

Ginny smiled, got on her tiptoes and lightly kissed Harry’s lips. “We should go before those two start the Third Wizarding War,” she joked.

Harry grinned, and started off towards their friends, never letting go of her hand. Yes, they might have been broken, but they’d be alright. As long as they stuck together, they’d always be alright.

FIN


End file.
